To educate is one of the most important missions in humanity. It is up to ourselves to create a society capable of taking part in decision making. On this page we display our approach and impact in our society with different educational activities to introduce them to Synthetic Biology.
This wouldn't have been possible without the diffusion of our project and of Synthetic Biology. Be sure to also check our communication page.
Science is crucial to building a more just and sustainable world. That is why science outreach is so important. In addition to the educational activities shown here, we have sought to communicate scientific concepts through the media. You can read more on our communication page.
"Nothing in life is to be feared, only to be understood"
-Marie Curie
Education plays a key role in understanding and building the world in which we live. It is a universal right and a powerful tool for the creation of an equitable and sustainable society.
Mexico has recently begun to include Synthetic Biology into its university educational programs. But the truth is we still have a long path to normalize this technology. Our country is still afraid of it because they don't comprehend it. From our personal experience, nobody introduced us to STEM areas, not to mention Synthetic Biology.
This motivated us to develop several activities so our community can relate more to this topic. We want to make a contribution to our system and invite society to be more involved in STEM discussions. That's why we designed multiple activities for elementary, middle and high school. We also wanted to include those who have already chosen their path in life. So we designed more dynamics for university students, postgraduates and our general public.
We wanted to generate an educational strategy that would allow more people to be part of scientific activities. We desired our educational material to promote mutual learning. This way, we could aid to break down the barriers that prevent our community from accessing Synthetic Biology. We wanted to generate an effective and comprehensive strategy. So, we decided to approach those who work every day to use education to build a better future: teachers.
During May we attended Techstars Startup Weekend Education CUU. This event is organized by the largest community of entrepreneurs in the state of Chihuahua. In this event, several professors got together to work on a single goal: developing ideas to improve education in Mexico.
During that weekend we had the opportunity to share ideas and talk about education in Mexico. We also discussed how science provides tools to develop a more fair and sustainable society. They also provided us with feedback so that our activities could have a greater impact. Among the recommendations were:
To take into account the interests of the target audiences.
To consider the concentration periods of the audience according to their age.
As students of STEM areas, we are convinced that scientific thinking allows us to make more conscious decisions. It gives us confidence in our ability to understand and face challenges. It also empowers us to take an active and responsible role in local and global issues. Hence, it is important to promote children and teenagers to develop these tools. We can achieve this through activities that stimulate creativity and critical thinking.
That is why we have created a compendium of activities for different educational levels. This material seeks to awaken interest in learning, creativity, and reinforce the scientific thinking of students. We designed different recreational activities such as reading comics, games, and problem-solving. We strived to transmit concepts of Synthetic Biology to students from elementary school to post-graduate school. Our goal was to generate material that could be used by different iGEM teams, educational institutions, and everyone else.
The planning for each actvity, its learning objectives, required materials and description can be found in the buttons below.
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We wanted to transcend and have an impact on a larger number of people through our material. Thus, we collaborated with Servicios Educativos del Estado de Chihuahua (SEECH). This is a Decentralized Public Organization of the State of Chihuahua. Its purpose is the technical and administrative management of educational establishments in Chihuahua.
Here, we had a meeting with Ph.D. Diana Elizabeth Soto Mendez, Head of the Academic Projects Department in SEECH. We presented our material for elementary education. She thought it was very relevant for children to have this approach to scientific thinking and Synthetic Biology. She also agreed that one of the best ways for children to learn is while having fun. Together, she supported us in developing a plan to implement these materials in the state's elementary schools. She also gave us access to work with the state's student groups. Check the letter of authorization.
We care about the future of our country and how Synthetic Biology is being received as people get involved with it. We want to share our knowledge on the basis of Synthetic Biology and its applications. We are convinced that scientific thinking helps us make more conscious decisions. It grows the confidence in our ability to understand and face challenges. It also empowers us to take an active and responsible role in local and global issues. These traits should be worked on from childhood to grow the confidence in our adult selves. Thus the importance of involving children in activities that stimulate creativity and scientific thinking.
To educate kids, we had to think as one. We had a brainstorming session to define an appealing activity for them. After a while, we got to the conclusion that creating a coloring comic story was great for kids around 8-14 years old. Drawings attract the kids, coloring activates the motor skills and reading comprehension is stimulated.
We made a story about Chalino, a chilli plant who's attacked by P. capsici. We wrote it in English, Spanish, Rarámuri, and Odami to include different types of ethnicities (see inclusivity). Also, we included a recapitulation page so they could answer what they understood from the story. Click on the buttons to check out our comic book!
But still, we wanted to go further, to make an impact not only in our community. Thus, we started a massive comic collaboration.
We sent messages to a lot (A LOT) of iGEM teams and invited them to create their own coloring comic story. We received many positive responses and got 19 teams to collaborate with us.
After everyone sent us their story, we unified them in one document and translated them all to Spanish. We wanted kids in our community to be able to read them and get to know more about the iGEM projects. We invited our collaborators to do the same with their native language.
We had the opportunity of distributing our comic story on the visits done to elementary schools and foster homes. To carry out the activity, we brought colors and printed the comics. First we read the story out loud with them and asked them to answer to the comprehension questions.
You can click the buttons below to download our comic book. Or, check our collaborations to download the whole comic book compendium.
We made a comic for kids from 8-14 years old, but could we introduce them to science at younger ages? Kids tend to absorb the information that surrounds them. The cartoons they watch, the songs they listen to and the storys they receive have an impact on their future selves.
That's why we started developing an audiobook. It contains simple stories about the applications of Synthetic Biology in our life. The point is that kids around 5 to 8 years old can understand and enjoy them. The material consists of a digital animated book containing the stories with audio included. This is a great way of introducing children to science.
We uploaded the video onto our youtube channel. Also we uploaded it into spotify as a bed time scientific story's compilation.
We know learning can be a tough task. To help kids receive the information, we made a dynamic presentation. We talked about DNA, its composition, and its importance. Also reviewed the current applications of biotechnology and Synthetic Biology in our daily life. We were happy to see that they actually found the presentation helpful. This was an opportunity for kids to get familiar with Synthetic Biology. We included a space for questions and clarifications on the topic. They told us they really liked the class and hoped we would come back with more.
We understand that many scientific terms are new to children in our community. They don’t associate these new words with anything, so we made a memory game to give an icon to the terms.
The game consists of having two sets of cards facing down, and the player has to flip one card of each set. The point is to get both cards to match each other. We used a set with drawings of molecular biology and the other one with the name of the component. Kids who played the game were curious about these terms and why the structure was formed that way. The game was such a hit that a kid asked us to gift them a set of the cards (And so we did).
We thought it was important to include in our visits a kinesthetic activity. It's nice to end the meeting with an activity that allows the kids to keep a joyful moment. We decided to create "DNA says", where the dynamic of the game is the same as Simon says. While performing it we asked different questions to remember the main points. This allowed us to play and make a recapitulation of the meeting. The kids seemed to have a fun time and laughed a lot.
Sometimes it's hard to figure out if the audience understood the topics. Kids tend to say they understood everything because of shame in asking. So, we came up with a great way to analyze what they kept from the class: to play the Hangman game.
The dynamic was to fill in the blanks of the word seen in the board by proposing possible letters it could contain. The words we used were terms related to Synthetic Biology and science. We were shocked to see that they easily deciphered all the words.
Individuals reached: 400
We had the chance to assist 3 different organizations to give class to kids. Our activities were all applied to science, biotechnology or Synthetic Biology.
First we had the opportunity to be present at the foster home "Unidas por amor". The organization takes responsibility for girls who have difficult familiar situations. We had 30 girls from 8-16 years old see our presentation on Synthetic Biology. After that, we played the hangman game and we were thrilled that the girls remembered the terms discussed before. And to finish our visit, we read them our comic and gifted one to every girl so they could color it. We reviewed the main points of the story with them. We wanted to clarify any doubt remaining. We also mentioned that our comic story is based on our project Agrocapsi and invited them to pursue a future in STEM areas.
Later, the foster home CENITRAD gave us the opportunity to teach there too. CENITRAD gives food, clothes and education to girls in need. We were able to give our presentation to 60 girls. This allowed them to have their own opinion about Synthetic Biology. We as well as perform the hangman dynamic to promote their fast thinking. It was great to see how the girls retained the information and seemed to enjoy it. We also read our comic and gifted one to each girl, for them to color it and answer the comprehension questions.
We were also given the chance to take part with the Elementary School Carmen Serdán in the town of Delicias. Here we had an entire day to make an impact on all the grades and groups which equaled 310 kids. We planned two dynamics:
For kids from 1º to 3º we gave the presentation and played the memory game and DNA says. These activities were simple, dynamic and fun for kids to be introduced to science. They got questions about microorganisms and we had the chance to explain the benefits that can be obtained with them. The kids were happy with the class and looked up for us. Two girls even gifted us a drawing made by them as a thank you.
For kids from 4º to 6º we gave the presentation and included a comprehension session. We made a recapitulation space and asked them questions about the presentation. This allowed us to clarify doubts and emphasize the most important subjects. In both dynamics, to wrap things up, we read the comic story, asked questions about it and gave one to every kid. The group of 4ºB liked the comic so much that they asked us to sign it as a souvenir.
The stage between childhood and adulthood is adolescence. This stage represents many changes and interrogants for the individual, but it also opens the door for learning and for mental strengths development. First impressions have a great relevance in this time of life. The way that new information is presented may stick around with them forever. Thus the importance of making sure they receive Synthetic Biology as a beneficial tool. We wanted to take this opportunity to leave a good memory on these topics.
Individuals reached: 50
Being part of a big team like iGEM has made us discover how different we all can be. We realized there isn't only one way of learning, and later, we confirmed it. Sometimes intelligence is seen as something we are born with and can not be changed. However, the Harvard psychologist Howard Garner says it is a full range of abilities. He proposes the "multiple intelligences theory" where he claims there are 8 categories. We were amazed by this and wondered what our way of learning was. Then, the idea of making a rally to help figure this out came up.
We designed 8 different Synthetic Biology activities that fitted into each category. This way we could educate on this technology while helping the participants discover a new part of themselves. We held this rally at high school Bachilleres Plantel 1 and gave them tools and information to decide if they want to be a part of STEM during their professional path or even to decide if they'd like to learn how to work with Synthetic Biology.
Linguistic: We explained how the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology works. Then we told the participants to explain mitosis, replication and translation back to us.
Musical: We used a song that explains how the Krebs cycle works.
Mathematical-logician: We made an microbiology exercise where figures of bacteria, virus and DNA had a numeric value. We placed the figures with plus or minus symbols and they had to tell us the final result.
Kinesthetic: We used our memory game material here. The participants had to cross a tread web to flip the cards and get a match. If he didn't, the next person had to cross and try. Everyone did this so they could make the whole memory game visible.
Spatial: We had 3D figures of a DNA, bacteria and a cell and the participants had to replicate them with clay.
Intrapersonal: We made a quiz with different introspective questions relating them to science. This facilitated the participants to know if STEM areas are interesting to them or not.
Interpersonal: The participants asked questions between themselves and summarized what their partner answered. The point is to help the other person realize what their interests are.
Naturist: We showed what insects, flowers and microorganisms look like under a microscope.
This rally had the purpose of diffusing science terms, practices and theory, so the interest for this area blossomed. Science has the reputation of being relevant and challenging, but it can also be fun and creative.
It was also intended to help people figure out what their intelligence type is. This can help improve their way of living. Knowing ourselves guides us into making greater choices. It can help define what to dedicate our lives to and do things more efficiently.
Individuals reached: 124
For us iGEM has been a life changing experience. We have learned so much on teamwork, our potential, how to develop a complete project and more.
We know that not everyone has the possibility to take part in the competition. However, that doesn't mean they don't have the capabilities. This led us to the idea of creating a short version of the competition. We contacted CBTA high school in Cuauhtemoc city to collaborate with the biotechnology students. Once they said yes, we designed an activity with two sections:
First we delivered a presentation on what is iGEM and Synthetic Biology. Then we introduced them to the tracks and the problematics that iGEM tries to solve. We also talked about the different areas of the project such as human practices and research inside and outside the lab. Finally, we explained how our team has been trying to fulfill these different areas.
Secondly, we told them it was their time to try the iGEM experience out. We gave them time to select a track and look out for a problem to solve using Synthetic Biology. This required quick scientific research and quick thinking. They also had to propose a brief plan for the development of human practices.
We handed them a rubric so they could have a base on the aspects that were to be graded. To be fair and objective, we brought with ourselves 3 ex-iGEMs to participate as judges. They selected the ones to be finalists so they could go ahead and present their project to the other teams. To every finalist a question was asked about their project to make them feel like the real thing.
This activity builds a closer approach to Synthetic Biology and the community of iGEM. Great ideas came from the students and we encouraged them to pursue them because they are on the right path. They seemed interested in how Synthetic Biology works and on learning more about it.
As a reward to the winners we were given different prizes. But the one we are proud of the most are the 3D printed micropipettes pens. This was a great motivation for the participants to give their best effort.
We had the opportunity of carrying out this activity for a second time at our home university's high school known as Prepa Tec. The dynamic was exactly the same as we did in CBTA and it was also a hit.
Nathale Olivas
Teacher from CBTa 90
She mentioned that she liked the Mini iGEM activity and that these types of events create awareness among young people about the problems they encounter around them. In addition to strengthening creativity, critical thinking, and teamwork for problem-solving. She commented that he would have liked the event to have a longer duration so the students could develop their ideas further.
Carmen Maldonado
Teacher at Preparatoria del Tecnológico Monterrey
She liked the activity very much, she believes that it is an excellent way to have a first approach to synthetic biology. In addition, the students can dimension the multiple applications of synthetic biology to solve problems comprehensively.
Individuals reached: 45
We got an opportunity to assist at the Pierre Faure high school in Cuauhtemoc city. The high school let us prepare an activity for 1º and 5º semester students. We wanted to do something dynamic where they felt like it was a game or a competition. To do this, we first gave a presentation about concepts of Synthetic Biology. We invited the students to look up the things they found interesting on the internet. As well as giving guidance on what it is like to be in a STEM career.
After this, we divided the class room into two teams, and each one had to complete a DNA puzzle we made. The trick is, they could only add a piece to the puzzle by answering a Synthetic Biology question. We discovered that competition is a great way to encourage learning. As usual, we included a question session to clarify any doubts.
Individuals reached: 60
Our university also has a high school known as Prepa Tec. When students are in their 5º and 6º semester, they pick an optional class to see what they'd want to study in college. There is an optative for biotechnology to learn the applications of it.
We wanted to be a part of this and designed an activity to teach them how genetic engineering works. It consists of playing with DNA constructs. But first we gave them an explained presentation on how recombinant DNA is produced. We talked about ligation, restriction enzymes and cloning. Then we gave a space for questions and doubts, and gave them some examples on the current applications. Once we finished, we began the activity.
For this, we visually designed 2 very simple vectors and 3 proteins of interest and printed them on paper. The vectors varied on their expression level, being either high or low. They also had different restriction enzymes ends (blunt or sticky) and taught them that this played an important role for the insert directionality. The proteins also varied because of their applications on a pharmaceutical, agricultural or therapeutical field.
The dynamic was that we told them what we wanted to produce and how, and they had to assemble the construct. For example "We want a fast production of the insulin gene without the risk of it inserting backwards". So they had to pick a high expression vector, the insulin gene and make sure they had sticky ends on both sides.
This was a big step of information for the students. We could see that they were intrigued and amazed because of the things that can be achieved. Their curiosity was blossoming and they started proposing new posible products.
Individuals reached: 357
The Zootechnics and Ecology faculty of the Autonomous University of Chihuahua gave us the opportunity to collaborate with them. Its mission is contributing to the sustainable development of agricultural and industrial sectors responsibly. We took this opportunity to give an educational conference on Synthetic Biology. We focused the speech on how this technology reduces environmental damage. Later on, we talked about Agrocapsi and how this is a sustainable alternative against agrochemicals.
We had a very interactive closure due to the many questions the audience had. We answered them so they could make their own judgment on the product and Synthetic Biology. We invited them to inquire more about these type of products. This will allow them to make smart and responsible decisions on the products they use.
This session was broadcasted in zoom and Facebook live for those who couldn't attend in person.
Individuals reached: 95
Agrocapsi is working on a high attention problem. Agricultural practices is a very common job in the city of Chihuahua. For this reason, there are universities that specialize in this matter. We got in touch to collaborate with the University of Agricultural and Forestal Sciences. They are interested in new agricultural products and they told us we could go present what we were doing.
Here we explained the key points in the mechanism of action of P. capsici and the effects it has on chilli. Then we described the solution we propose, using antimicrobial peptides and iRNA technology. And we also mentioned the advantages that Agrocapsi has against current agrochemicals. At the end we had our question session and we received two key participations:
Doctor Cesar Guigón made the observation that wilt is a disease not only caused by P. capsici; there are two other fungi that also take part. He said if we wanted to manage our product against wilt, we should also target Pythium and Rhizoctonia. This was important feedback for us and we listened to it. We started our investigation on these two other microorganisms to include them in the biofungicide action spectrum.
We also got the interest of Javier Sierra, a student and entrepreneur on the development of new agricultural products. He was interested in the functioning and laboratory results. He also told us he'd like to try Agrocapsi in his chilli crops to see the effect it has. We were excited about this and got a letter of intent to try our product in his crops in the future.
Individuals reached: 70
The University of Agrotechnological Sciences specializes in topics surrounding agro technologies. Students from this school in Cuauhtemoc city investigate what products are beneficial or damaging to the environment. They look out for new alternatives and options available near them.
We got the opportunity to go and make a presentation. We talked about how Synthetic Biology solves problems such as chilli wilting. This was an opportunity to create a bridge of communication between us and the students to talk about the development of new tools. They were attracted to products that come with genetic engineering and natural resistance genes. To close our presentation we talked about iGEM. We explained the mission of creating new scientific solutions while engaging with the corresponding stakeholders.
Individuals reached: 306
There is a welcoming event for the new entry University students known as HiTEC. It is a rally with different activities across the campus so people get to know each other. It is actually a competence where a lot of running and screaming is done.
We wanted to be a part of the event, therefore we designed the web-puzzle activity. We placed a sort of spider web with yarn between two trees. The participant had to cross it so they could get to a table where 2 puzzles were placed. One of a DNA and one of an RNA molecule. They could only place one piece per turn. When they finished, we explained what they were, its importance and function. This was a taste of science and a welcoming to the career for those who were going for the biotechnology branch.
Individuals reached: 145
Our first activity for the Divulgare network was an online workshop. We explained basic concepts of DNA, its composition and where it is located. But to make it more dynamic, we performed the extraction of strawberry’s DNA with home utensils. Our viewers were able to visualize a great amount of the mysterious component that makes us who we are. They had a closer approach to science and to know what makes us, us. We hope we have woken someone's inner scientist and desire to know more. We streamed this event on Facebook and uploaded the class onto Youtube. We want those people that couldn't attend to have the opportunity to see the class.
Individuals reached: 750
We made an activity with our co-founders from the CCTC divulgation network the astronomical league. They held an event at night to visualize the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter using a telescope. On the other hand, we made a presentation to talk about how Synthetic Biology can be applied in space.
We used as an example previous projects of iGEM such as the Toulouse INSA UPS 2020 and SORBONE U Paris 2020 teams. We intended to diffuse this technology and talk about what can be achieved with it. There were some curious people that approached us after the activity close up to discuss more about the topic. Some of them were really interested in why we were focusing our product on chilli. We explained to them the impact this fruit has in our city and country. Additionally, kids seemed interested on being "space scientists".
When talking to different chilli producers we noticed there’s a lack of education on good agricultural practices. We discovered that aggressive treatments against plagues are still in use. This happens because the information gets passed through generations. Not only does the practices not work, but they represent a risk to the crops, laborers, and consumers.
Or take a look at the spanish version!
We wanted to contribute and stop this misinformation from spreading even more. That’s why we decided to create a manual on good chilli crop practices to maintain plagues away. We later held a conference on the College of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences and we took advantage to distribute the manual to students, professors, experts and entrepreneurs.
Individuals reached: 40
When carrying out the first interviews with chilli producers, we noticed the lack of education in agriculture. They didn't seem to know about the effects of agrochemicals or the correct disposal of them. That's why along with team UAM, we designed a workshop that covered this topic.
We invited 2 experts to talk about wilting, different agrochemicals and their proper disposal. They discussed the genetic damage caused from constant exposure to these products. As well as mentioned how to read a label to identify risks on time. But we didn't want this event to be unilateral, so we included a discussion panel. This way, people involved in agriculture could expose their main doubts to our experts.
We included an activity (Kahoot) to reinforce what was said. There were 2 winners and to untie them, we asked them a question. The one who answered faster won an amazon gift card.
